Why this ride
From Selent it runs 216 km to Damp; allow about 3 h 50 of riding. The stops in between: Lütjenburg snack stop, Hohwacht water stop, Preetz line and Selent lake shore.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Kiel · Selent Lake and Hohwacht Short Day + Kiel · Boknis, Schlei and North Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 216 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 50
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Selent lake shore → Lütjenburg snack stop
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 32 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go — slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 13 km
Lütjenburg snack stop → Hohwacht water stop
19 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it. Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 8 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Selent lake shore
Selent is a village of about thirteen hundred people, and its lake, the Selenter See, is the second largest in Schleswig-Holstein, a long glacial basin of roughly twenty-two square kilometres. Nothing here is grand. The shores are low and wooded, reed beds line the edges, and there are good places for birdwatching, with grebes, swans and cormorants common. It is a quiet bit of Holstein Switzerland where the main events are the arrival of the wind, the colour of the water and the occasional sailing dinghy.
Read the complete Selent lake shore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Selent lake shore is where the day begins. Next is Lütjenburg snack stop.
2. Lütjenburg snack stop
A snack stop in a town like Lütjenburg is an education in how small-town northern Germany eats between meals. Every bakery has a counter of rolls, filled with ham, cheese, egg, smoked fish or a slab of Leberwurst, and most of them also sell cake by the slice and coffee in paper cups. You pay at the till, take your bag and sit on a bench in the square, and nobody minds. A fish roll from a stall, with pickled herring, onions and a dill pickle, is the more adventurous choice, and a sweet pastry from the baker the safer one.
Read the complete Lütjenburg snack stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lütjenburg snack stop comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hohwacht water stop.
3. Hohwacht water stop
Not every water stop has to involve getting wet. Hohwacht works for riders because it offers a place to refill a bottle, sit near the sea and let the engine cool, and because the little harbour has a calm, working character that is a relief after the busier resorts to the east. The marina holds a mix of small fishing boats and sailing yachts, and a few smokehouses and kiosks do a quiet trade. In the early morning, before the day-trippers arrive, you can hear the halyards tapping against the masts and the cry of gulls.
Read the complete Hohwacht water stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 21 km into the recorded legs you reach Hohwacht water stop. Next is Preetz return line.
4. Preetz return line
Preetz sits on the Schwentine river between two lakes, and its old convent is the reason to slow down. The Benedictine nunnery of Preetz, founded in the early thirteenth century, survived the Reformation by turning into a Protestant convent for unmarried daughters of the Holstein nobility, a role it still plays today, and its Gothic brick church and cloister stand on a peaceful spit of land beside the Kellersee. The nuns, or rather the ladies, are not in view, but the buildings are lovely, and a short walk around the grounds is a quiet pleasure.
Read the complete Preetz return line write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Preetz return line, about halfway at 22 m. Next is back to Selent lake shore.
5. back to Selent lake shore
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Selent lake shore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at back to Selent lake shore. That is the ride. Next is Boknis Eck viewpoint.
6. Boknis Eck viewpoint
Boknis Eck is a headland on the coast of the Eckernförde Bay, on the Baltic side of Schleswig-Holstein, and the first thing you notice is how low everything is. The land at this point stands only a few metres above the sea. It is a coastline of small cliffs, beaches strewn with flint and boulders left by the glaciers, and long views across the water toward Denmark. The sea off Boknis Eck is also known to marine scientists, who have run a time series station here since the 1950s, measuring temperature, salinity and nutrients in the bay.
Read the complete Boknis Eck viewpoint write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The day opens at Boknis Eck viewpoint. Next is Eckernförde lunch.
7. Eckernförde lunch
Eckernförde sits on a bay that curves into the Baltic like a cupped hand, and its old harbour is where a day in the northern lowlands comes to rest. The town is known above all for smoked fish, and in particular for the Kieler Sprotten, small, golden-brown sprats that are named after Kiel but are traditionally made here, in smokehouses along the water. They are eaten whole, by hand, with a bit of bread, and they taste of oak smoke and salt. If you eat one thing in Eckernförde, make it that. A fish roll with fried herring or plaice is the safer alternative, and plenty of harbour kiosks sell them.
Read the complete Eckernförde lunch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Kappeln bridge.
8. Kappeln bridge
Kappeln guards the middle of the Schlei, and its bridge is the town's pulse. The Schlei is a long, narrow inlet of the Baltic that winds forty kilometres inland to Schleswig, and the bridge at Kappeln is where the road crosses it. It is a double-leaf bascule bridge, which opens at set times to let sailing boats pass, and when it lifts, traffic stops and everyone gets out to watch. Waiting for it is part of the local rhythm, and you will not be hurried.
Read the complete Kappeln bridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kappeln bridge, late in the day at 8 m. Next is back to Boknis Eck viewpoint.
9. back to Boknis Eck viewpoint
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Boknis Eck viewpoint write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 441 km.
Leg by leg
Selent lake shore to Lütjenburg snack stop
Selent lake shore → Lütjenburg snack stop is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lütjenburg snack stop to Hohwacht water stop
Lütjenburg snack stop → Hohwacht water stop is 8 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hohwacht water stop to Preetz return line
Hohwacht water stop → Preetz return line is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Preetz return line to back to Selent lake shore
Preetz return line → back to Selent lake shore is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back to Selent lake shore to Boknis Eck viewpoint
back to Selent lake shore → Boknis Eck viewpoint is 74 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Boknis Eck viewpoint to Eckernförde lunch
Boknis Eck viewpoint → Eckernförde lunch is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eckernförde lunch to Kappeln bridge
Eckernförde lunch → Kappeln bridge is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kappeln bridge to back to Boknis Eck viewpoint
Kappeln bridge → back to Boknis Eck viewpoint is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.